Montmartre fuel depot bombing

The Montmartre fuel depot bombing occurred in August 1940 when two French Resistance operatives - Luc Gaudin and Sean Devlin - bombed a German fuel depot at Montmartre in Paris. This was the first French Resistance action in Paris, and it inspired the people of Montmartre to resist the German occupation.

History
In August 1940, French Resistance leader Luc Gaudin recruited Sean Devlin, an Irish racecar mechanic with a hard grudge against the Nazis, into his network. The two of them planned to target a German fuel depot in Montmartre, where the Germans stored 5,000 barrels of precious petrol. The two men first beat up two German soldiers who were assaulting a French woman in an alleyway, and they proceeded to retrieve dynamite from crates stashed there. The two of them then drove to the area near the fuel depot, which was guarded by an armored car and several German troops. Gaudin placed 10 pounds of dynamite next to the armored car, which killed three German soldiers when the car exploded. The German soldiers at the depot were distracted, and they rushed over to the armored car to investigate the explosion. At this point, Devlin climbed a building and used a telephone line to slide down into the depot. He then placed explosive charges on the primary storage tank, and he took cover before the tank exploded. The explosions were massive, with the main explosion triggering the explosions of the smaller tanks as well. Devlin escaped quietly, with Devlin and Gaudin escaping in a German car. While Devlin did not know the significance of his actions, Gaudin told him that it would inspire the people of Paris to rise up against the Germans. Indeed, the Montmartre district was inspired, and less German soldiers were sent to the district due to their lack of control there.